Newcastle brought some nasty, damp weather with them to Twickenham and, for the third time this season, they left for the long journey home under a cloud.

But this was a vast improvement on last Saturday's display when they shipped 46 points at home to London Irish, and Harlequins were made to dig deep for victory.

Quins had too much power up-front for their visitors and in the 20-year-old loose-head prop, Joe Marler, they look to have unearthed a real gem. In these parts the Mohican-haired Marler is considered to be the heir to Jason Leonard and it was his part in the build-up to the second-half penalty-try that helped separate the two sides.

For an hour Marler continued to belie his years with his strong scrummaging and impressive ball-carrying and when he left the field it was to the loudest cheer of the afternoon.

Newcastle's cause was hardly helped when they lost their flanker Will Welch and the centre Rob Vickerman before the end of the first quarter.

The first half was as colourless as the Falcons' grey shirts with the entertainment limited to who of the dead-eyed kickers, Nick Evans and his New Zealand compatriot Jimmy Gopperth, would land their penalties.

After the break, though, Quins upped the tempo and after a series of scrums close to the Newcastle line, Newcastle's replacement prop, Jon Golding, was sent to the sin-bin and the seven-man Falcons scrum conceded a penalty-try.

Gopperth's boot kept Newcastle in the game, however, the fly-half's two penalties reducing the deficit to four points as the Falcons perked up. This was Newcastle's most assured period of play.

Only when the Quins' substitute Tom Guest was driven over four minutes from the end could Quins' followers really breathe easily.

Two wins in eight days have put Quins in good heart but Newcastle face a long winter.